-Get it? Like the Will Wood song?-

Clark hovered anxiously by the door to the med bay. 

Eventually, Red Tornado opened the door to enquire on his business there.

"Is he awake?"

"Superboy is conscious, though somewhat delirious." Red told him, still blocking the entryway

"May I?" Clark crept around the Android, who continued to guard the boy dutifully. "Superboy?" Clark asked carefully, approaching his cot. The boy looked worse than usual, his eyes were bagged and he was practically buried in sensors and detectors, every part of him seemingly hooked up to some machinery. The boy's eyes opened and he tried to force himself to sit up. "Did something go wrong on your mission?"

Conner raised a hand to his head, dizzy, "When did you..."

"I heard that you were admitted about an hour ago, I was working but I came as soon as I could." Clark replied, sitting next to the gurney. He scanned the boy for wounds or blood stains, but could find nothing. He glanced at the chart above the bed, but he didn't understand what any of it meant. "Conner, are you okay?"

The boy shrugged, looking at his feet. He was clearly drowsy from whatever medication they'd pumped him full of.

The two sat there for a time, the room was filled with the beeping of machinery. Conner was shirtless, partially-covered in a thin blanket, so many electrode stickers plastered on his torso you could barely see the skin beneath. Clark frowned. The boy was pale, he certainly wasn't spending enough time charging his powers. 

Clark couldn't help being rattled by all this. After all that time he'd finally found Conner, he'd finally found another kryptonian. He didn't want anything to happen to the boy, he was so young-- not even a year-- and he couldn't help worrying about his baby brother.

"Have you ever been on drugs?"

The question came out of left field so fast that had Clark been wearing his glasses, they'd have shattered from impact.

What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to think?

"...Not of my own volition." He admitted after a time. That seemed to discourage the boy more. Clark felt a sinking in his stomach, he wanted to help, but he had no idea what the problem was. "Have-- have you?"

Conner didn't look at him, sinking back into the bed. "What'd Batman tell you?"

"Just that there was an incident and you were in the med bay." The man reached out, brushing Conner's fringe out of his eyes. "Conner, what happened?"

Conner raised his eyes cautiously. "I didn't wanna go to the med bay." He muttered. "Batman made me."

"Made you?"

"He sedated me," Conner said, pained eyes taking in the sickly lit ward around him, "after I said no he forced me to... like Cadmus did."

Clark was vitally unprepared for this. "Oh, Conner, I'm sorry."

Conner fought to suppress a tremble of unreleased emotion. He wasn't supposed to be like this, he was supposed to be strong. The memories from Cadmus were blotchy and inconsistent; he was fighting, we was walking, there was a body draped over his shoulder, a hand across his chest and the phrase 'atta boy'. He didn't like it. If he ever didn't want to do something, he would do it anyways, if he didn't want to go somewhere, his feet would move him there anyways. He was supposed to have free will now.

"Humans have the right to deny medical treatment," Conner said at last, blinking sleepily. "Why don't I?"

Clark winced. For a while now the League, the media, and the government had had an ethical debate about balancing human rights and handling alien/nonhuman attacks. Batman tended to be in the 'if it could be dangerous, it has no say in what happens to it' camp. 

"It's not your fault," He said at last. "Batman is... cautious, and it takes a lot for him to trust people." Clark looked at the boy. "I'm sure we both know what that's like."

Conner looked away again. "...Do you trust me?"

Clark bit the inside of his lips, pained by the question. "Yes." He admitted at last. Conner jostled his wrist, and for the first time Clark realized the boy was cuffed to the bed.  

"Can you let me out?" Conner asked.

Clark stood sharply, eyes wide and mouth agape. Bruce had cuffed his little brother to the bed.

"Conner!" Both kryptonians turned to see a green face peaking through the med bay's doors. 

"M'gann?" Conner asked, sitting up and pulling all the cables with him.

She breezed past Clark with a nod and stood anxiously by her friend's side. "Are you okay? Red Tornado wouldn't let me in to visit until I was done my homework," They explained, "he said you needed to rest."

"What'd you doin' the essay on?" Conner asked drowsily, rubbing his eye.

"Nipmuc history and culture." She replied, sitting on the edge of the gurney. "No one will tell us what happened, Canary just said that you didn't feel good."

Conner fidgeted, his eyes darting around the room. "I don't know." He said gruffly. "I'm fine now."

"Well, if you ever want to share..."

"Thanks."

Clark stared between the two teens awkwardly. He felt like he was missing some context. "Did anything happen on the mission?" He asked M'gann.

"No, everything went fine," xe replied. "I mean we were beat back a bit at first, but it was fine. No one was hurt."

Before Clark could verbalize his confusion, Conner interrupted: "Look, can you get me out?"

"Can't you break them?" M'gann asked, seemingly unphased that her roommate had been cuffed down.

Conner shook his head. "I feel so... there must be a kryptonite compartment in here." He tugged weakly at the chain. "I can feel it."

"Here, let me." M'gann closed her eyes, trying to focus.

"No!" Superman interjected. "Just sit tight, I'll go ask Batman for the keys."

M'gann waited until she heard the zeta beam go off. "Are you okay?"

"I overdosed on my stimulant." Conner said quietly.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" She grabbed him by the cheeks, pulling him close for inspection.

"Fine." Conner stared at the shirt lying on the foot of the gurney. "M'gann?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm addicted to my stimulant."

Both teens sat in silence for a moment. "What are you going to do?" M'gann asked at last.

"I don't know."

"Well," They stood, looking down at him. "On TV they always say that knowing that you have a problem is the first step to recovery."

Conner nodded hollowly. "Do you think they'll get rid of me?" 

"No! No way they will! We wouldn't let them!" His housemate promised. 

"...Thanks."

Xe smiled. "You need rest, how about I grab my laptop and wecan watch videos until Superman's back?"

Conner smiled. "I'd like that."